Ben Simmons formally demands trade

[flyerhawk]

In a long term view, I think the Nets definitely made out, as Simmons has new life and the draft picks and Curry ... meh, who knows.

And once Harden is unhappy, he won't play hard and he's leaving once the year is out.

But in the short term view of a happy healthy Harden versus Simmons, Curry and Drummond, I think Harden by a considerable margin.

Agree with this.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Assuming that Simmons comes in and does what everyone thinks he should/could.

If he turns into a glorified Bruce Bowen, not so much.

right.

Nets miiiiight be the favorite in the East---- but geez.

Durant has to get healthy and stay healthy- otherwise they are nothing.

Kyrie has to stay healthy, stay sane, and they have to drop the mandate

Simmons- after not playing basketball for a long time - has to come in, stay healthy, and get going.

they all have to mesh....those 3 guys are not exactly the most cheerful, selfless teammates in the NBA.

If I had a gun to my head- not sure I wouldnt pick the Bucks still---- but with the Nets obviously having a higher ceiling.

 

[The Q]

Just to be clear, I'm not predicting the Sixers will or won't be great. I just hate when people make definitive claims about how a trade will turn out, hours after the trade happens.

It's possible that the Embiid/Harden pairing will be like Astaire/Rogers and they will be dancing around everyone. It's possible that they are constantly hurt and never find a rhythm and are an early round exit. Who the heck knows?

What I do know is that had Embiid and Harris not got Covid they would likely be leading the Eastern Conference by a few games and they just got significantly better this year.

The Nets are going to be formidable and Simmons could be a key piece to turning them into a juggernaut. Or Simmons may never mesh well with KD and Kyrie and KD never really recovers from his injury.

I remember when the Knicks traded Ziggy to the Mavs and they got roasted all over the place.

I give you a lot of shit (especially since we legit go back decades now), but this a great point

Zinger trade also bombed because he tore his acl and has never been the same

But the Knicks also didn’t get premium picks…so no one really won big

 

[WiggyRuss]

LMFAO!!! You shouldn't even be 10% kidding with this.

lol....not even 0.05%.

RW honestly might be the most toxic contract in the NBA and he only has 1 year left.

 

[trojanfan12]

Agree on Kings not Westbrook. He’s cooked

That's why I said half kidding. lol

 

[WiggyRuss]

is this the biggest NBA trade of the 2 decades?

I would say yes.

 

[trojanfan12]

Assuming that Simmons comes in and does what everyone thinks he should/could.

If he turns into a glorified Bruce Bowen, not so much.

lol

This post reeks of flailing.

 

[WiggyRuss]

doesnt matter anyway

Nets and Sixers are just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Cavs young legs are the iceberg--- hold them all to <100 points and run them into the ground!!!!

Mobley gonna rip that gimp Embiid and Garland gonna run circles around Mr. Flat Earth

 

[jontaejones]

Agree with this.

Also consider that the Sixers tried to trade Simmons for months and found no takers.

If he's as good as people say, then why didn't anybody trade for him?

That said ... the circus goes on, and at least we have some draft picks.

 

[tlance]

We have no idea how Simmons is going to actually play this season, though. I GUARANTEE that teams in the playoffs will be going to hack a Ben early and often, trying to rattle him. It remains to be seen whether he's learned to deal with that.

100% agree.

We don’t know what Simmons will be and how he will respond. That is the major question mark here.

 

[thunderc]

100% agree.

We don’t know what Simmons will be and how he will respond. That is the major question mark here.

How long until he plays? The Nets can’t afford to give away many more games.

 

[tlance]

I think a team of Durant, Kyrie and Harden that is healthy and happy is basically unbeatable.

I think Simmons is closer to Kyrie in terms of what he brings in terms of helping a team win.

So, basically instead of two As and a B, you have one A and two Bs.

I'm still trying to figure out why Harden wanted to be traded. I guess he figured Durant wasn't dependable enough health wise.

Except that they aren’t.

Because Harden doesn’t try defensively and he doesn’t fit at all with Kyrie.

This was never a slam dunk big 3 champion. And anybody who ever said they were unbeatable is wrong.

This team MIGHT actually be unbeatable if they are healthy and fully engaged.

 

[jontaejones]

Except that they aren’t.

Because Harden doesn’t try defensively and he doesn’t fit at all with Kyrie.

This was never a slam dunk big 3 champion. And anybody who ever said they were unbeatable is wrong.

This team MIGHT actually be unbeatable if they are healthy and fully engaged.

Ok, not unbeatable, but likely winners.

Not any year.

But current competition.

In a small sample size, almost beat last year's champs trading off between a hobbled Harden and Kyrie.

Held the best record in the east this year without Irving all year.

My feeling is that the whole Kyrie/vaccination thing was basically the beginning and the end. Harden didn't want to deal with a halfway teammate. Which is ironic sure.

 

[jontaejones]

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden played 16 games together on the Nets.

Like what a friggin joke man. I think somebody mentioned a number when the trade first happened and it was the under by a large margin.

 

[tlance]

Ok, not unbeatable, but likely winners.

Not any year.

But current competition.

In a small sample size, almost beat last year's champs trading off between a hobbled Harden and Kyrie.

Held the best record in the east this year without Irving all year.

My feeling is that the whole Kyrie/vaccination thing was basically the beginning and the end. Harden didn't want to deal with a halfway teammate. Which is ironic sure.

Favorites on paper for sure.

But the fit issues were real and we were on top of it here.

I don’t believe those issues exist with Simmons.

It is purely a question of whether or not he is fit to play, and whether Kyrie is cleared to play home games.

 

[The Q]

Favorites on paper for sure.

But the fit issues were real and we were on top of it here.

I don’t believe those issues exist with Simmons.

It is purely a question of whether or not he is fit to play, and whether Kyrie is cleared to play home games.

I look forward to Boston battling them because of their guard defense now with smart and white

 

[Iggloo]

or Cavs

Maybe not. I have been impressed with their progress this year.

 

[Iggloo]

Well, I've made it pretty clear, but I will try to explain differently.

With KD, Harden and Kyrie, a Nets team that is full and healthy, is the favorite to not just come out of the East, but win the title. They had 2 somewhat glaring weaknesses that teams could hope to exploit...their lack of defense and their best big being Blake Griffin.

The Sixers just handed over an elite level defender who also happens to have elite ballhandling and passing skills and is a very good finisher at the rim in Simmons. They also gave them Drummond, who isn't great, but is an upgrade over Griffin (especially defensively) and Curry who is a career 43.7% shooter from 3.

While Harden is a great scorer and excellent passer, he is ball dominant and doesn't play defense.

So again, it's not about the Sixers not improving, it's that in doing so, they improved a team that was already better than them and that they are likely to have to go through to win the East, by more than they improve themselves and maybe significantly more.

Fair enough. You make a lot of good points there.

I have to say I was impressed by Drummond. He is playing good ball right now. I am not sure if he is a playoff starter, but he can give you good minutes as a defender and rebounder inside. Embiid of course will completely eat him alive like he always has, due to his superior agility and foot speed, but Drummond can play.

I am just a little tired of people crowning the Nets when they ain't done shit either. They are paper tigers with questionable chemistry and that was not all Harden.

 

[Iggloo]

Is Maxey a spot up shooter?

He's shooting 40% from 3 this season, and a fair number of them have been of this variety. He has also developed a decent step-back 3. Which is big given his deadly floater.

It's definitely going to be interesting to see how he and Harden play together. There could be issues there as both are fairly ball dependent.

 

[trojanfan12]

I have to say I was impressed by Drummond. He is playing good ball right now. I am not sure if he is a playoff starter, but he can give you good minutes as a defender and rebounder inside. Embiid of course will completely eat him alive like he always has, due to his superior agility and foot speed, but Drummond can play.

In a hypothetical series between the Nets and Sixers what Drummond could do is be physical with Embiid and just wear him down some. So late in games/later in the series, Embiid maybe isn't quite as fresh. Basically it would be the difference between Embiid going up against some resistance vs. no resistance.

Obviously, Embiid is a far better player, but Drummond at least can make him work some to get his points.